A Story of Before
by Ameyoke
Summary: A tale of Ar Tonelico. What happened to Mir/Jakuri in the past? How is Aurica her daughter? Many of these questions were left unanswered, but now I give you the story! The story of hatred, but also of love... ChroahxJakuri. Rated T for safety.


**Chapter 1: The Child**

I was all alone… In that little place. After rebelling against the humans, I was placed in a chamber, forced to sing. Even after destroying another part of the tower, I guess they really needed me. I was trapped in that golden room.

"Mir." A man's voice called. It was one of the researchers. I didn't like him, or any of them, for that matter. "We need you to try singing again."

"…I'm not interested."

"Mir… You'll get punished, you know."

"I've lived far longer than you have. You would dare punish me?" I glared at him. My black hair dripped down my back. I was clothed in a reyvatail outfit like Shurelia's, only black.

"You need to sing."

"…No thanks." I said bored and looked down.

"Fine, I'll report this to the superiors."

"Go ahead." I shook my head, not really caring. The man left, and I sat at her vanity, also made of gold. In the mirror was a tired woman, nearly a thousand years old. Yet, she looked like she was only 18 or so. As a class A reyvatail, I had stopped aging long ago.

The man approached his supervisor.

"Mir refuses to sing… At this rate, our research will be for nothing."

"She's depressed because of the loss of many of her kind. But what a fool. If she hadn't retaliated, then the others would have lived… And our world would be safe." The bearded man stroked his white hair. Who knows how long he had been working on the Mir Project.

"What should we do?"

"…Well, there is an experiment I've been meaning to try out."

"What is that, sir?"

"…A child between a human and a generation A reyvatail."

"Well, you'd usually get a class C with a B and a human… I don't know what would happen with an A…"

"Exactly." He smirked evilly. "Tonight we place sleeping pills in her food. Then we do the sperm transplant…"

"I see. Very well." He left the room.

"And so the experiment begins." The old man chuckled to himself.

Two months later, I was feeling sick. I couldn't eat. I felt like throwing up. I was so confused from the pain I was feeling… I hadn't felt anything like it… Suddenly, a researcher entered my chambers.

"Leave me alone…! I don't feel well…!" I covered myself in the blankets and tried to glare at him to go away. But the man did not hesitate. He came to me.

"Sit up." He told me. "I can diagnose you." Wanting to be rid of this horrible pain, I obeyed his orders. He took a small electric projector out of his pocket and connected it to a detecting stethoscope. The picture was horrifying to me. Something was moving within my body…

"What is this…?!"

"This shows your womb." He told me.

"What did you just say…?"

"You're pregnant."

"That's impossible…!" I shook my head in denial. "I've never been in love, and I've surely never done-"

"It's a new experiment." He explained. "We placed a sperm inside you to see what the child would be like."

"You monsters…!!!" I hissed, trying to scratch at his face. "DON'T LET THIS CHILD BE BORN INTO THE SAME HELL I WAS! I DON'T WANT A CHILD! NOT ONE THAT'S NOT MINE!"

"Just be glad we didn't do it the other way." The doctor sighed and placed the projector behind the bullet-proof glass. I tried pulling at the detector on my chest, but it wouldn't come off.

"It's useless." He informed me. "Be grateful. I'm giving you entertainment. You can watch the baby grow every day." I glared harshly at his face, then began to sing song magic.

_**With extreme calmness, I want to keep existing within the hell of violent black anger**_

_**While forming a miracle in the frozen hellfire, let me adorn thine neck with a necklace made of steel **_

_**DESPEDIA/. **_

_**Oh, great lord of destruction**_

_**Kneel down before me, I am controling thee**_

_**And I will tie thee to my white feet with hardened chains of steel **_

_**Bow down to the earth, kneel before me**_

_**Listen to my divine words**_

_**"Deep inside the black abyss, the darkness burns its flame of sinful destruction"**_

_**The bottom of hell reflects thee**_

_**Devote thy demonic name, thy true name to me **_

_**Because thou belong to me**_

_**Because I know thine demonic name, thy true name**_

"Bitch! You can stay in there for 6 months if you want!" He slammed the door of my quarters. I looked at the projection. Damn it all… Having a baby, not even knowing who the father is… I hate humans so much…

6 months passed like a flash. My belly was pudging out, and my breasts were sore. I knew the baby was coming soon. Time to time, I felt kicks against my stomach. That researcher wasn't lying. I never left the chambers. My meals were delivered, and I bathed myself in my small bathroom. Every day, it seemed like I got fatter and fatter… Suddenly, I felt a jolt in my stomach.

"What's going on…?!" I gripped my torso. It hurt so much… Three men ran to me and brought me to my bed. I screamed in pain, wanting a hand of a loved one to hold… Maybe even a friend. But Shurelia and Tastiella… Never came. They didn't know where I was. When it was all over, I was out of energy. My body could barely move. But I looked down at the now-cleaned baby. She was a reyvatail, just as the humans had hoped.

"Ugh… A generation C." The head said. He was disgusted by the powerlessness of the child. He walked over to another researcher and whispered, "If we let her spend some time in the outer world, let her raise the child, then maybe she'll sing for us again." He suggested. The others nodded in agreement.

I looked at the child now in my arms. It couldn't be my child. Look at it. She had chestnut-colored hair. Mine was raven black. Who was the father…? That question flowed through my mind countless times. I hated this child. She wasn't mine. But then I looked closer. She held my finger in her tiny little hand, moving close to my chest. I smiled for the first time in at least a century.

"…Aurica." I told them.

"Hm?"

"…Her name is Aurica." I repeated, and they nodded.

"Mir, we have something to tell you…" The bearded man approached me. "We're setting you free. You can go to the lower world now. Go to Skuwat village. You can live there, and we won't bother you."

"I'm… Being let go?"

"That's right. Raise your child with care." He patted me on the head, and I nodded softly.

The next week, I quickly packed my things and Aurica's into a suit case. There wasn't much to pack. After all, the little room inside the Plasma Bell didn't have much anyway.

"Aurica. It's time to go." I held my baby in my arms and held her tightly to my breast. She fell asleep, comfortable to be held by me.

"Have a safe trip." The professors placed my bag on the airship, and I hopped on with Aurica in hand. I didn't say goodbye. There was no reason to. Although they had let me have freedom, it was their fault my life was a living hell in the first place. So I left without a word. Skuwat Village… A place I had never been to in my life.

We arrived there, and a house was waiting for us. A small, little cute house. I placed Aurica in her cradle and stroked her head. On the bed were some normal clothes. Did they expect me to become a housewife or something…? Well, if I was going to blend in, I had no choice. I slipped on the beige dress, black leather boots and white, muslin apron, wrapping the silk ribbon around my hair.

"Hello." A villager greeted me, and I spun around. Was it a human…?

"A-Ah…" I diverted my gaze away and started fumbling with things in my suitcase. They looked at me strangely.

"Welcome to Skuwat Village." The woman bowed. Was I supposed to bow? Me, the goddess of this world? I could have easily killed that mortal right away, but…

"Thank you for your kindness…" I nodded my head and bowed.

"I'm sure you'll do just fine in this village, Ms… Um…" I was going to tell her my name was Mir. But then I realized… Many humans, even reyvetails had died because of me. I… No, Aurica would lose her new home.

"…Jakuri. My name is Jakuri."

"Jaclyn?" (Author's Note: Damn you NISA! How the crap do you get Jaclyn out of Jakuri?)

"No, Jakuri." I shook my head.

"I see… And who's this little one?" She looked endearingly at the little baby in the cradle.

"It's my daughter, Aurica."

"And your husband?" I snapped my mouth shut. Soon enough, the woman noticed I was uncomfortable. "Um… My name is Presea. It's nice to meet you." She looked at Aurica. "How old is she?"

"Only a week old."

"My, how precious… My daughter is a year old. I'm sure they'll be great friends. Her name is Claire, you see-"

"Presea."

"Yes?"

"…Are you a reyvatail?" I bluntly asked. She stared at me, her eyes full of questions. But she softly smiled.

"…Yes. I am a reyvatail. My daughter is a generation C."

"And you?"

"I am a generation C as well." This is what I despise about my generation. I live forever. People around me die. A never-ending cycle. "And you, Ms. Jakuri?" Shit. Tell her that I'm an A, and it's all over.

"…Generation B."

"I see. That's amazing." She smiled cheerfully, thinking that I would live for a few hundred years.

"…Where is your husband?" I asked out of nowhere.

"Oh, he's at the house. Would you like to meet him?" She reached a hand out to me. The first warm hand I had received for a long time, even from a reyvatail.

* * *

Song in the chapter: EXEC_DESPEDIA/.

Artist: Noriko Mitose

Game: Ar Tonelico II


End file.
